Learning Log: Chapter 3

Jennifer Jones
Chapter 3: Learning Log

Page 44: “The reflective diagnostic teacher considers and selects among instructional alternatives and at the same time anticipates the consequences of differing decisions on student learning. This reflection helps teachers know why they teach and facilitates their explanation to others.”
The notion of teacher reflection and reflective action is really interesting to me and the reason why I picked this passage out from page 44. In my experience (and this idea is one Dewey’s great contributions to educational literature) there are two types of reflection: reflection for the sake of thinking and reflection for the sake of acting. In other words, it is one thing to informally think about how a class responded to a certain experience or what information an assessment provided you with but it is another to turn those observations into action and actually modify your behavior (and classroom instruction) based on critical reflection. It is this sort of active, problem-solving sort of reflection that I think Walker is getting at on page 44. I think that she is saying here that good reflective practitioners are those who are intentional in their actions. They are educators that have many instructional options at their disposal and deliberately choose the one that is most appropriate for their learners at a given time.

Page 45: “After analyzing the characteristics described in the research literature, she felt she knew enough to identify one of her students as a passive reader.”

I thought this portion of the vignette on page 45 was particularly interesting because Walker had the “master” teacher consult a body of educational research before taking action in the classroom (in this case identifying one of her students as a passive reader). I think she makes a very good (but subtle) point about the importance of educational theory and practice, hinting at the age old disconnect between education and educational theory. Since (especially pre-service teachers) educators bring such a tremendous amount of innate knowledge about both pedagogy and content, it can be difficult for some teachers to accept/consult new research supported ideas. Shifts in educational research do not always result in shifts in practice and so I was very pleasantly surprised at her consultation of research to inform/drive classroom instruction.

Page 47: “Reading is an active problem solving strategy. The diagnostic teacher engages students in this active problem-solving process so they can construct meaning as they read.”

The reason I picked these sentences out of chapter three is because of the tremendous connections I see between what the author is describing in terms of developing reading competency and my job as a mathematics teacher. It was especially interesting that Walker describe reading as “active problem solving” because the course I teach is called “problem solving” and it is entirely math based. Constructing meaning from text (as Walker describes) is analogous to how I teach my students to attack word problems. We (the PS teachers in Lockport) teach our students a process called UPS check, which stands for “Understand the problem”, “Plan”, “Solve” and “Check”. I wonder how these could be translated from an approach to solving word problem to an approach to reading text since essentially in both instances students need to make meaning from a passage and apply the ideas to a new situation.

Page 54: “Many struggling readers do not recognize their effective strategy use. These readers need more than teachers evaluating their performance and strategy use orally. Thus, the diagnostic teacher encourages self assessment.”

On page 54, Walker discusses the importance of self assessment, not from the perspective of a teacher (as she did on page 44) but on the part of students. I tend to disagree with Walker when she says a diagnostic teacher encourages self assessment, because I think a truly effective diagnostic teacher does more than encourage reflection- she plans for it, making it an integral component of her instruction. I think when we can teach our students to reflect on their performance (whether it be in reading or any other subject), over the course of a school year it is the type of competency which can become an anticipated, habitual activity. I think teaching students to self assessment, helps learners students value their own learning (and their responsibility for their learning) as well as identify their own learning gaps and eventually can teach students to solve their own academic/learning needs (or learn how to ask for help solving them).

Page 57: “Finally, the diagnostic teacher engages students by personally responding to literature, discussing her own personal change as a result of reading and writing experiences.”

I think this quotation makes such an important point- it is something I wish every member of my faculty could read and employ in their classrooms. Every Friday during 9th period study hall is “reading day” where students are expected to bring a book, magazine or newspaper and read silently at their desk for the entire 45 minutes. Students are not permitted to do homework, computers or any other activities (including talking). While many teacher struggle to get their study halls to comply I think the biggest factor determining whether or not students participate is whether or not the teacher herself reads during the allotted time. Modeling desired behaviors is so critically important (especially at the middle and high school levels) that I think teachers would have far more success getting students to read on reading day if they did so themselves and had an open conversation with their study halls about what each person learned (themselves taking a turn). If reading day (and reading in general) were of observable importance to each educator, I think students would not only comply but also find it a worthy activity.